Lawrence Lessig: The Constitution and the Corrosive Influence of Money in Politics

Tuesday, March 19, 2013
7 – 9 p.m.

Admission: FREE and open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis

What would the Framers of the Constitution think of the flow of money from lobbyists—and the special interests that hire them—to members of Congress?

The University of Pennsylvania, Democracy Café, and the National Constitution Center present a timely, compelling conversation about campaign finance reform featuring Lawrence Lessig, director of Harvard’s Edmond J. Safra Foundation Center for Ethics and professor of law at Harvard Law School. The program will be moderated by author Christopher Phillips, senior writing fellow at the Critical Writing Program of the University of Pennsylvania and executive director of the nonprofit organization Democracy Café.

Lessig, a distinguished scholar, best-selling author, and public intellectual, proposes nothing short of a constitutional overhaul, with changes ranging from limiting political contributions from noncitizens, to implementing public campaign financing, to initiating Electoral College reform. At a time when the public trust in Congress has reached record lows, his aim is to improve legislative effectiveness and reinvigorate our democracy.